Thursday, August 31, 2017

Acts 21:4 (KJV)And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

It happens frequently that I have some sort of impression about a particular decision either I or someone else is making and I have learned, by more than 30 years in the ministry, that more often than not, that impression is accurate. I believe it to be the spiritual gift of discernment. It carries no Biblical authority and I cannot make people follow my impressions. Most often I find it is more sensible not to even tell people what my impression of their decision is. Still, I have had maybe hundreds of opportunities to observe that these impressions prove true.

I see this passage in a similar light to that of my impressions. It was the Holy Spirit who gave these disciples the sense that danger awaited Paul in Jerusalem. Out of love for Paul they expressed what the Holy Spirit told them would be the outcome of his trip. But they were not authorities over Paul’s own leading of the Spirit. Paul was responsible to follow the Spirit’s leadership in his life and not theirs.

Albert Barnes expresses the same understanding when he writes:“…In solving this difficulty, we may remark:(1) That it is evident that the Holy Spirit is meant, and that Luke means to say that this was spoken by His inspiration. The Holy Spirit was bestowed on Christians at that time in large measures, and many appear to have been under his inspiring guidance.(2) It was not understood by Paul as a positive command that he should not go up to Jerusalem; for had it been, it would not have been disobeyed. He evidently understood it as expressive of their earnest wish that he should not go, as apprising him of danger, and as a kind expression in regard to his own welfare and safety.”

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Acts 21:4 (KJV) Spiritual Gift of Discernment

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We witness in this chapter the marvelous melding of man’s will and God’s:

Paul was “bound in the spirit” to go to Jerusalem therefore

Paul had determined to do it before Pentecost

I note that “spirit” is lower case. The reference appears to be of his own spirit. He had to go because his spirit seemed forced to go.

But it is difficult to distinguish between the spirit and the Spirit. Paul could have easily been bound in his spirit because he believed himself to be bound by the Holy Spirit to go to Jerusalem. (The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit.[1])

We ought not determine we will do a thing unless we are certain it is the leading of the Holy Spirit. Once led of the Spirit we ought then to be determined to obey regardless of cost or consequence.

Acts 20:16 (KJV) Our Spirit and the Holy Spirit

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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Acts 19:1-2 (KJV)And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

I think it was Torrey who speculated that Paul questioned that these disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost because there were only twelve of them. Torrey fell into the same trap as most in that he equated numbers with the presence of God’s power. This idea has, in my opinion, created the environment of worldly compromise we see in churches today.

The more common error springing from this passage is that of the Pentecostals and Charismatics. They see this passage as instructing them to urge people who do not speak in tongues to be filled with the Holy Ghost.

The two errors are similar in that they both look for some outward evidence of an inward work. I believe the lesson of the passage is much more basic. Paul approached a group of professing believers and asked them questions to determine how he might most effectively help them.

The ministry ought to be about taking people from where they are spiritually to somewhere else. Whether it was the heathen philosophers of Athens or these would-be believers in Ephesus, Paul made observations and asked questions so that he might best determine how to preach to them and to help them spiritually.

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Acts 19:1-2 (KJV) Observations and Questions

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Exodus 25:17 (KJV) An Appropriate Picture of Jesus

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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Exodus 23:32-33 (KJV)Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

God makes a promise in this passage we ought to pay close attention to. The promise is that if we compromise with the worldview of the lost, it will be a snare to us.

It’s not a threat

It’s not a danger

It’s not even a real potential

It is a promise. If we entertain the ideas of the unsaved, spiritual or otherwise, it will trap us. We will sin against God (or else the compromise itself is the sin) and do us in.

The downfall of this generation of believers has been our friendship with the world.

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Exodus 23:32-33 (KJV) The Downfall of This Generation’s Believers

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Saturday, August 26, 2017

Acts 18:14-17 (KJV)And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.And he drave them from the judgment seat.Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

Gallio demonstrated both a strength and a weakness in his handling of this conflict.

He was absolutely correct that his authority did not extend into things that had to do with the Word of God and a believer’s understanding and practice of it. Some much evil has been committed because of this very thing. Government has no business in church business.

On the other hand, Gallio had every reason to intervene in the beating of Sosthenes. No religious entity has authority to punish an individual or to coerce them in spiritual matters. Faith is a matter of the heart and the spirit. Religion has authority to persuade through ideas – the preaching of truth as they understand it. It has no authority over the body.

Government ought not judge over doctrine and practice but must judge over the rights and protections of individuals.

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Acts 18:14-17 (KJV) No Business In Church Business

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Friday, August 25, 2017

Exodus 18:23 (KJV)If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

I have generally read this verse to mean that Jethro “ordered” Moses to obey his counsel with those words, “…and God command thee so.”

It is more likely that Jethro gave the counsel and then left it to Moses to discern God’s command one way or the other. Moses’s following of this counsel is not an indication of Jethro’s influence over Moses but of the wisdom of Jethro’s counsel. Moses followed the counsel because he had confirmed it with the Lord.

For any adult counsel is just – counsel. It might be wise counsel and counsel which we ought to follow but in the end, it is our responsibility to take all counsel to God for confirmation or denial.

If God’s Word is opposed we should reject the counsel no matter who it might offend.

If God’s Word confirms it we ought to accept and follow it no matter who it is that provided it.

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Exodus 18:23 (KJV) Just Counsel

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Thursday, August 24, 2017

Acts 16:1 (KJV)Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

Paul’s first visit to Lystra ended with his being:

Drug out of the city

Stoned and

Left for dead

Paul did not die and, when he revived, returned into the city. He then left to preach the gospel in Derbe. Having done that he went through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch once again, confirming the churches in those cities.

He is now on his second missionary journey and, passing through these cities once again, meets with Timothy. This young man becomes his “son in the faith” and a right hand man to the Apostle, Timothy was a fellowservant of the Lord and future pastor in Ephesus.

We can never tell what fruit God might produce out of the most difficult of circumstances.

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Acts 16:1 (KJV) You Never Know

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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Exodus 15:2 (KJV)The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Surveying the defeat of the Egyptians at the Red Sea and reflecting upon how it was accomplished, Moses and the people burst into singing (I imagine that Moses composed the song under inspiration of the Holy Spirit and then taught it to the people. The power of music is how quickly we can learn it). The opening statement gives a threefold alliteration. God was their:

Strength

Song and had become their

Salvation

The salvation referenced is not from sin.[1] This is deliverance from a trial. Salvation, in reference to sin, is more accurately represented in the Passover.

Saved people find strength in God. He steels our emotions. He encourages us in hardship. His Word gives hope in our darkness. We are weak but He is strong. When we have God’s strength we find it easier to sing. Though there are always hurdles to overcome our faith finds reasons to rejoice.

And as we walk our path in this life, strengthened by His might and rejoicing with the song He puts in our hearts, we invariably witness again and again how He defeats our enemies.

Exodus 15:2 (KJV) God Gave A Song

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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Acts 14:15 (KJV)And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

The people of the city were just about to offer sacrifices and proclaim Paul and Barnabas gods.

These two were so far separated from the:

Character

Nature and

Worldliness

of the citizens of the city that they were inclined to see them as better than they. They could not imagine a human being capable of such concern for a fellow human being and of such an effective ministry.

Paul interrupted their worship with a basic truth. Both Barnabas and Paul were subject to the very same passions as these souls:

The same urges

The same temptations

The same desires

The same hopes

The same fears

As different as they seemed to be, they were no different, save this one thing; they had turned themselves and those passions over to the living God.

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Acts 14:15 (KJV) Like Passions

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Monday, August 21, 2017

Exodus 13:2 (KJV)Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

God gave Israel so many different memorials; tools, both to remember what He had done for them and to instruct their children and children’s children concerning those things God had done and what they meant.

The majority of these memorials had to do with deliverance fro Egypt:

The Passover

The firstborn and later

The altar at the side of Jordan River

I am reminded how important it is to not only tell our children what to do but to tell them why.

We are:

To refresh our memories through the memorials of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and to see that our children witness these and that we teach them to them.

To set up family altars that we use to teach our children what God has done for us.

To display passages of the Bible that have been life changing for us.

These are instruments train up another generation to follow us as we also follow the Lord.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

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Exodus 13:2 (KJV) Tools To Remember By

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Sunday, August 20, 2017

Exodus 12:2 (KJV)This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

We celebrate the Fourth of July every year. It’s a big deal. More than two hundred years ago now, a hand full of men dared to declare this land independent of the king of England.

It was no easy task to accomplish. Just saying it didn’t make it so. They had to fight off the British and to do that they had to convince a sufficient number of their countrymen not only to agree but also to fight and die for it.

We celebrate the Fourth of July every year. But we don’t set our calendar by it.

Israel did.

God has made the Jews unique to the whole world:

Unique physically

Unique nationally

Unique in their months and

Unique in their years

God made Christians to be unique from the world. We live in this world but we ought never be like it.

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Exodus 12:2 (KJV) It’s A Big Deal

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Saturday, August 19, 2017

Acts 11:17 (KJV)Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

All of us have our prejudices. If it is not the color of one’s skin then it is:

The religion they grew up in

The social level they were raised with

The standard of living they have embraced Or

The character they possess

I have met a number of people who refuse to help a ministry that attempts to help the prisoner or the addict.

But the Bible is clear. God loves even those whose actions He hates. Christ’s death on the cross is sufficient to save them and all who come to Him will in no wise be cast out. Who are we to withstand God on this matter?

Our mission, should we accept it, is to go (into all the world and to every creature) and teach them, baptize those who believe and teach the believers to observe all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded.

Acts 11:17 (KJV) Our Mission

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Friday, August 18, 2017

Exodus 8:24 (KJV)And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

The wording makes it sound as if,

Worse than frogs

Worse than the lice

were the flies.

These pests are not loud, not poisonous and not malicious in nature but they become grievous because of their persistence. They just never quit. They get on everything. They never stop. They fly from here to there and then here again. We swat them away but they return immediately.

They live short life spans so they die – everywhere. One the floor, in containers of food and drink, in light fixtures (they wouldn’t have had them in Ancient Egypt, I know) no doubt they would have died in the oil based lanterns, spoiling the fuel for their lights.

Some flies do bite but even those that don’t are bothersome as they land on the skin and scalp.

Exodus 8:24 (KJV) Pesky Things

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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Exodus 7:1-5 (KJV)And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

Note the contrast between Moses as a god before Pharaoh and the Lord Himself:

Moses was made to appear as a god

Moses was appointed this by God

Moses was not respected though a god

Moses was only able to do as God commanded

In contrast the Lord:

Made Moses a god

Commanded all that Moses did and eventually

Destroyed Pharaoh because he did not reverence Him

Men make for themselves many gods but none of them measure up the LORD.

Exodus 7:1-5 (KJV) God Made Moses a God

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Exodus 5:14 (KJV)And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

Leadership comes at a price.

In the case of the Israelites in Egypt the price became obvious. Perhaps as officers they had experienced certain privileges:

Maybe a bit better food

Maybe better lodging

Maybe physically easier labor

But when the pressure came, it came upon them first.

In our day, the price of leadership sometimes seems less harsh. Those in authority almost always have the better income so they:

Live in nicer houses

Drive nicer vehicles

Etc

But the cost of such leadership is, if not so obvious, well documented.

Stress on their bodies

Long hours of work

Strains in their marriage and

Difficulties with there children

Leaders are necessary and those called to it are to be respected. But responsibilities, such as leaders are called to, is not for everyone.

Exodus 5:14 (KJV) Leadership Comes at a Price

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His Name Is Jesus

About Me

I was born in the Pacific Northwest and have lived the majority of my life right here. I became a Christian at the age of 18. God has allowed me to pastor Baptist churches in Washington and Oregon for the better part of 30 years. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to serve as the executive vice president of Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in San Dimas, CA and move with the college to become Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, OK.